Does anyone else feel like Apple and other companies have plateaued?

I personally own an iPhone 6s plus, an iPad air 2, a 12.9 inch iPad pro, and a 2015 macbook pro w/retina. I do notice that my macbook pro and my 12.9 inch iPad pro absolutely flies and are a bit faster than my other devices, but it still isn't much of a noticeable difference. I couldn't be more satisfied with my Apple products and don't really see how they can get much better than they already are right now. I have heard Android owners talk about how they feel that Android products have plateaued as well. What do you think?

I personally own an iPhone 6s plus, an iPad air 2, a 12.9 inch iPad pro, and a 2015 macbook pro w/retina. I do notice that my macbook pro and my 12.9 inch iPad pro absolutely flies and are a bit faster than my other devices, but it still isn't much of a noticeable difference. I couldn't be more satisfied with my Apple products and don't really see how they can get much better than they already are right now. I have heard Android owners talk about how they feel that Android products have plateaued as well. What do you think?

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I term it more like a mature product and market. There will continue to be speed, screen, connectivity improvements with each new version. However minus any new innovative interface with the device, the kind of wow factor going to a full screen from keyboard phones and integrating phone, music player, Internet device, full blown computer in hand, and camera into one device won't be happening.

Integrating the device inside your body, with direct connection to brain and powered by your body heat that would be a leap. Beyond something like that, incremental improvements is all we can expect. Screens will improve, processors will speed up, battery will last longer, radios will connect better.

Another way to look at it, take a phone several steps back and compare to latest device. Fundamentally same thing, but the incremental improvements make the latest device so much easier to use, they actually are a leap ahead. The model T car and the modern Lincoln both do the same thing, yet riding in one vs the other is a totally different experience. But that difference is an accumulation of improvements, not a single model year change.

I think in terms of huge "wow that is really cool I need that moments", yeah I think most phones have. I think smartphones are starting to become a lot like the tablets, you really only need to buy one every 3 years or so. I say that and I will buy the new iPhone every year. I think tech nerds like me are much different then the normal consumer though. Smartphones have reach a point were they pretty much do everything we can ask for.

Now where I think they could really use some advancement is in the battery department. That technology has not changed in years, and we could really use some mind blowing tech. With the "thinner is better" mindset all the smartphone manufacture are adopting, this has become a must. I think this is where they should be investing their time. Sure polish up iOS and android each year, and add a few new features and you should be good. Figure out the battery, and you have the best smartphone to come out in years.

I think in terms of huge "wow that is really cool I need that moments", yeah I think most phones have. I think smartphones are starting to become a lot like the tablets, you really only need to buy one every 3 years or so. I say that and I will buy the new iPhone every year. I think tech nerds like me are much different then the normal consumer though. Smartphones have reach a point were they pretty much do everything we can ask for.

Now where I think they could really use some advancement is in the battery department. That technology has not changed in years, and we could really use some mind blowing tech. With the "thinner is better" mindset all the smartphone manufacture are adopting, this has become a must. I think this is where they should be investing their time. Sure polish up iOS and android each year, and add a few new features and you should be good. Figure out the battery, and you have the best smartphone to come out in years.

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Battery improvements are a problem dealing with fundamental physics and properties of chemical reactions. Frankly more progress has been made in lowering consumption, less waste heat in processors, screens with lower power consumption, smarter software, than with fundamental battery innovation.

Lot's of universities and companies are trying. Progress in nano battery particles shows promise but turning lab success into viable cost effective manufacturing process for millions of units is a big hurdle.

There are a lot of consumer articles that would become quantumly better with a big jump in battery chemical efficiency. However as has been shown with lithium ion batteries increasing energy density can have drawbacks. As in fires and explosive results. Packing a lot of potential energy into small packages can release a lot of kinetic energy in short time with damaging results. Should anything go wrong with an individual unit.

Battery improvements are a problem dealing with fundamental physics and properties of chemical reactions. Frankly more progress has been made in lowering consumption, less waste heat in processors, screens with lower power consumption, smarter software, than with fundamental battery innovation.

Lot's of universities and companies are trying. Progress in nano battery particles shows promise but turning lab success into viable cost effective manufacturing process for millions of units is a big hurdle.

There are a lot of consumer articles that would become quantumly better with a big jump in battery chemical efficiency. However as has been shown with lithium ion batteries increasing energy density can have drawbacks. As in fires and explosive results. Packing a lot of potential energy into small packages can release a lot of kinetic energy in short time with damaging results. Should anything go wrong with an individual unit.

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Oh I totally agree. That is why I think this idea that thinner is better is terrible. I would rather have a fatter phone, and have more battery life.

I know there are a lot of people working on the technology getting better, but I still think we are years away. This is why I agree with the OP.

To answer the title, no I don't think so. The problem is merely that the current management at Apple has wrong priorities. Instead of delivering a good working environment with a stable OS and modern machines, they are 99% focused on gimmicks that will catch the eyes of the broad consumer who has no idea what they are looking at, other than useless bling. Yes, it works wonders short term for sales, but in the long run it will wreck their high-end consumer sales, which in turn will remove the amazing reputation that the company has.

I find Apple a very frustrating company and it would appear to me that over the past few years they certainly appear to be putting profits before products. For example, it's widely assumed that the iPhone won't get a OLED display until next year!! Common! These displays have already been out on other phones for a few years now. They already have the tech at their disposal but insist on slowly integrating it over many years because they know most of their customers will upgrade regardless hence maximise their profits.

As already mentioned this obsession with thinness is quite frankly beyond a joke. The phone is already thin enough but it seems to be nothing more than a reason to give a few punch lines at the next iPhone event...look the new iPhone is 0.001 mm thinner than last years.

I not knocking apple products, I've had a few iPhones, iPads and iPods but I think the direction their taking is not right and can't help feeling they just become greedier and greedier over the last few years.

I believe the next best thing is a non reflective glossy display. Where you can actually see the screen without maxing out the brightness.

Another thing to look forward to is faster wifi and Bluetooth. Which enables the phone go to sleep faster, saving batter life.

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Neither is these mind blowing tech. We have seen faster wifi and Bluetooth in almost every iPhone. I see these things as normal upgrades to the iPhone just to keep it modern. I am talking about something that makes people say wow. We have not had that for awhile now. That is not to say I am complaining, but at this point I don't care. I am just agreeing with the OP that Apple and the rest of the smartphone industry have rested on what they have. It seems consumers are ok with having a large upgrade every few years. Most are keeping their phones for much longer then a year, so the companies are waiting a bit to completely change the phone. This is the way I see it.

Neither is these mind blowing tech. We have seen faster wifi and Bluetooth in almost every iPhone. I see these things as normal upgrades to the iPhone just to keep it modern. I am talking about something that makes people say wow. We have not had that for awhile now. That is not to say I am complaining, but at this point I don't care. I am just agreeing with the OP that Apple and the rest of the smartphone industry have rested on what they have. It seems consumers are ok with having a large upgrade every few years. Most are keeping their phones for much longer then a year, so the companies are waiting a bit to completely change the phone. This is the way I see it.

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Consider that at some point the design of a device hits a functional peak. A point where it perfectly serves the purpose for which it is made. Sure we could see a five wheel car. And another manufacturer could put out a three wheel car. Do they work better than four wheels, no. An optimal point had been reach with four wheels.

I submit that we have reached such a point with our portable computing devices. To call them phones any more is silly. They are legitimately portable hand held computers. Incremental improvements is about all there is left to do.

Is there a better interface than touch screen? I can't think of any.

Will voice commands take over as the recognition and smarts becoming increasingly improved, sure.

Will size or shape change, larger, smaller, don't think so.

Will power consumption keep going down? Yes

Will new battery technology become a manufacturing reality in quantities of 100s of million units? Maybe

Is there a better shape? Round? Triangular? Or is a rectangle seem to fit what is functionally needed?

Going from keyboard based to screen input based and integrating phone, music player, texting device, note taker, video viewer, book reader, Internet connector, NSA locator and spy device, all into one pocketable package is not going to be repeated any time soon.

Next great step would be implants, devices we carry inside us, powered by body heat. But that's a few more years off I think.

Consider that at some point the design of a device hits a functional peak. A point where it perfectly serves the purpose for which it is made. Sure we could see a five wheel car. And another manufacturer could put out a three wheel car. Do they work better than four wheels, no. An optimal point had been reach with four wheels.

I submit that we have reached such a point with our portable computing devices. To call them phones any more is silly. They are legitimately portable hand held computers. Incremental improvements is about all there is left to do.

Is there a better interface than touch screen? I can't think of any.

Will voice commands take over as the recognition and smarts becoming increasingly improved, sure.

Will size or shape change, larger, smaller, don't think so.

Will power consumption keep going down? Yes

Will new battery technology become a manufacturing reality in quantities of 100s of million units? Maybe

Is there a better shape? Round? Triangular? Or is a rectangle seem to fit what is functionally needed?

Going from keyboard based to screen input based and integrating phone, music player, texting device, note taker, video viewer, book reader, Internet connector, NSA locator and spy device, all into one pocketable package is not going to be repeated any time soon.

Next great step would be implants, devices we carry inside us, powered by body heat. But that's a few more years off I think.

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I agree. I don't see any need for some great redesign of the phone, but I also don't see things like Retina display, Touch ID, or another bigger iPhone anytime soon. I feel like times are changing for smartphones like they did my tablets. Sales are going to decline year over year for awhile until they kind of settle. People are realizing they don't need to upgrade their phone each year, maybe not even every 2 years. Instead of a "need" to upgrade, people are starting to see smartphones as a luxury that only needs updating every few years. This is why smartphone makers don't need to be revolutionary every single year.

In my opinion, you have to look at two different cycles:
a) The hardware cycle
b) The software cycle

Both of them feedback to each other. If you have slow hardware, it does not make sense to develop slow and bloated software, because no one will be able to use it.
But if your software is limited, new hardware looks lacking and uninteresting.

We are just at a stage were speed and first and foremost power-efficiency makes great devices possible.
Now the software has to follow suite.

You might think that we have already been developing software for powerful desktops in the past, so software should not be a problem.

But indeed it is. Software needs to follow new ways of interaction.

Loading big webpages with tons of JavaScript or sending mails with large attachments might seem powerful features, but if you look at how Apps have filled small diverse needs that people get attracted to for maybe 30 seconds (like sending a message, checking a newsfeed, etc.), you have to realize that software needs change.

Sure you still want powerful hardware to process your movies, scan through your photo or mail archive or similar, but most of this can be done remotely.

Nobody ever thought of storing even 1TB of photos somewhere, because their internet connectivity would never allow to seamlessly access this data.

And this is why software today and in the next 10 years will mean different things than you 3 CD Microsoft Office Installation package.

I really believe this is why most people thing current companies have reached a limit.
They have the hardware, they mostly have the connectivity, but there are too few attractive options for the end user.

The main reason is that internet providers weigh bandwidth in gold, meaning that in most places you cannot stream Netflix, YouTube, Amazon or any other service without having some bandwidth related negative glitchy experience.

It's really exciting when it all works (software, hardware, connectivity), but it fails even in your local WiFi, which lets people be disappointed.

Just my 2 cents.

PS: I truely believe that people in their 20th can sit and wait until the Web/JavaScript wave has been washing over them.
There will be so many connected small devices without any of this BS that currently leads to "My browser is so slow".
Learn networks, Learn real programming languages, Learn about protocols and data processing.
You'll be fine without the "Web".

This forum tends to focus on hardware and spec comparisons with other phones, which is natural for those who tend to be more superficial users of the operating system and ecosystem.

To me, iOS 9.3 has been truly innovative in so many ways, there's no sense that Apple is 'plateauing'.

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I don't really agree. Sure iOS has been great, and it's taken steps forward and added a lot of good functionality. But I do think hardware is what this should be focused on. I want a phone that works and the operating system does what I need it to do. iOS and the iPhone do that. The issue is something like the battery limiting the use of the phone. That part of the hardware is very important. We have not seen that "blow your mind" hardware from any manufacture in a long time. I think that is why people say they are plateauing which I can agree with.

I do agree though that iOS is innovating. Again I just think once my phone works, that is what I need. I think most people think the same thing. They don't need a bunch of bells and whistles to make the phone great. That is why they are not buying a new phone every year, and why Apple does not have to blow our minds every year anymore. At some point tech slows down, and I think we are there. Small upgrades is what we will SE Edie the next several years.

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